In the second Test match, in Mirpur, India were reeling at 74-7 before recovering to win by three wickets to clinch the series 2-0. Here are player ratings for India from the Test series in Bangladesh:
Shreyas Iyer – 9.5/10
202 runs @ 101; 2 fifties, HS: 87
Iyer made 86 to lift India from 112-4 the only time he batted in Chattogram. In Mirpur, he did the same, with 87, coming at India from 94-4. And in the chase of 145, he emerged at 71-6 (which soon became 74-7), but stayed until the end to ensure a three-wicket victory. An exceptional series.
Cheteshwar Pujara – 9/10
222 runs @ 74; 1 hundred, 1 fifty, HS: 102*
Pujara had top-scored the last time he batted for India, at Edgbaston. In Chattogram, he top-scored with 90, then made the fastest century of his Test career. Named Player of the Series ahead of Iyet.
R Ashwin – 9/10
112 runs @ 58; 1 fifty
7 wickets @ 35.14, BBI: 4-71
It was not just the unbeaten, counter-attacking fourth-innings 42 that saw India home at Mirpur. Even in Chattogram, Ashwin’s 58 took India from 293-7 to 404. After an ordinary outing with the ball there, he took six wickets in Mirpur as well.
Rishabh Pant – 9.5/10
148 runs @ 49.33; 1 fifty, HS: 93; C: 8, St: 3
Pant kept wicket brilliantly throughout the series. With the bat, he was just being Pant, striking at 91 but falling four short of a fifty in Chattogram and seven short of a hundred in Mirpur. Milestones are for mere mortals to concern themselves about.
Kuldeep Yadav – 9.75/10
40 runs @ 40; HS: 40
8 wickets @ 14.13; 1 5WI, BBI: 5-40
One Test match, eight wickets, forty runs, Player of the Match. Dropped for the next Test match because India played the extra seamer. Not Kuldeep’s fault that he has to keep fighting for a spot with Ashwin, arguably India’s greatest finger-spinner of all time, and Axar Patel, with a sub-15 bowling average. Once Ravindra Jadeja returns, the competition will only increase.
Shubman Gill – 6/10
157 runs @ 39.25, 1 hundred, HS: 110
A delightful maiden Test hundred in the second innings in Chattogram, but other than that, two cameos. He averages 52 in Australia, but that number is halved in all other locations.
Umesh Yadav – 8.5/10
29 runs @ 29; HS: 23
7 wickets @ 16.71; BBI: 4-25
India used Umesh mostly in bursts, and he kept breaking through from time to time. The four-wicket haul came on the first evening in Chattogram. Gets half a point for the two cameos.
Jaydev Unadkat – 8.5/10
27 runs @ 27; HS: 14*
3 wickets @ 22.33; BBI: 2-50
A Test match after 12 years, and Unadkat rose to the occasion. All three wickets were of top-order batters. Gets half a point for the two cameos with the bat(one of them unbeaten).
Axar Patel – 8.5/10
52 runs @ 17.33; HS: 34
8 wickets @ 23.37; BBI: 4-77
Axar took 5-87 in Chattogram and 3-100 in Mirpur, reasonably good by any standards but below average for his own. He qualifies for the half-a-point-for-cameos category too.
Mohammed Siraj – 7/10
6 wickets @ 27.83; BBI: 3-20
Siraj’s 3-20 set up the Chattogram Test match for India after they posted 404. His six scalps included two beautiful deliveries to clean up Litton Das, and none of his wickets were of tailenders.
Virat Kohli – 2/10
45 runs @ 15; HS: 24
This was Kohli’s second-worst series in the subcontinent (he got 46 runs at 9.20 in the 2016/17 Border-Gavaskar Trophy). He never got going with the bat and dropped catches too.
KL Rahul – 2/10
57 runs @ 14.25; HS: 23
Rahul will be remembered as India’s captain in their victorious campaign, but that is about it. His top score in the series was 23.
